A Second Exchange

As a point of rhetoric, it's interesting that CNN set this up the way they did. They could have chosen another crime victim who would have been less sympathetic, which would give the President an easier out. Instead, they put him in the position of having to affirm her right to keep and bear arms, and to clarify that he does not intend to do anything that would make it harder for her to own a firearm.

That may or may not be true -- it may simply be that he has no capacity at the moment to do anything that would make it harder for her to own a firearm, but that he would be happy to create the "Australia style" rules he has referred to several times as his ideal if he only had the power. That seems likely to me. Still, it is an interesting moment. Imagine how it must sound to a gun-banning progressive: do they see it as merely useful rhetoric to get the camel's nose under the tent, or are they appalled to see him surrender the basic concept that firearms in the hands of citizens are a basic right that is justified by the need to defend against things like criminal violence?

UPDATE: Commentary's Noah Rothman says that this exchange, taken together with the Clinton email, the terrorist attack in Philly, and another plotted by refugees just arrested, makes it a very bad day for the narrative.

I think, to answer your question, that his supporters read his comments to be nothing more than soothing pap for the "gun nuts", but they absolutely know that he supports gun confiscation (the "Australian" example he keeps praising). And every time I see someone complain about how irrational it is for we supporters of the Second Amendment to object to "common sense gun control", I want to simply tell them "probably for the same reasons you object to 'common sense abortion restrictions' like ultrasounds or mandatory informed consent laws". Because the reason for both is the same. To get the camel's nose in the tent. Nothing more, nothing less. You can prevaricate about what the ultimate desired outcome is, but in truth, I seriously doubt supporters of any of these laws wish for anything other than outright bans, but will take what they can get anyway.